Gift
by Izzu
Summary: Set in the middle of episode 2, with mentions of the past. Yumehito reminisced about some of the pleasant memories he had with Ainosuke.
1. Chapter 1

az: Please review if you liked it. And pardon any mistakes, there wasn't much I could do with research unless I actually went to these places myself.

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Gift

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

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_"I wished I could see some dolphins…"  
_  
Tanaka Yumehito smiled to himself as he made his last preparation for the finale of his 'kidnapping' plan. As he had told Ainosuke earlier this evening, this particular plot had been designed _especially_ for him. Though, he doubted that Ainosuke would actually going to enjoy it at all.

He grinned in amusement.

"It does seem like I'm a doting brother… am I?"

Yume told himself slightly aloud, knowing that he was alone in the room—Noriko was out to attend to certain matters while he finalized his arrangements here. He chuckled. He couldn't believe that he would still remember even the littlest memories that he had shared with his lovely brother. Then again—he frowned—if he couldn't even forget about certain things that he'd rather forget about, how could he be able to forget anything else?

He glanced away from the laptop that he had acquired instead of his own during the last three months—well, he shouldn't just throw it away after all.

He sighed as he stared at the ceiling, while his mind wandered towards the image of his younger brother.

"Well, Ainosuke… at least now, you get to see them finally."

_xxx  
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"Hmm… where should we start—?" Yumehito said aloud as he frowned at the pamphlet he was holding. Or more like, on the mini map printed on it about the attractions they have in this zoo.

He suddenly cried out as the pamphlet was rudely taken away by a very obnoxious ten-year-old boy, who had also walked beside him. Yume glared at the little kid as his younger brother grinned at him.

"Ainosuke! Give it back to me—"

"Why you need to look at the map? Can we just walk on ahead and just have fun?"

Yume just leered at the pouting kid as he shook his head.

"I just wanted to make sure that we don't waste any time getting lost around here—and it's not like we had all day to spend here. We'd need to catch the bus home later after all. Aunt Sumire would be angry if we got home late—"

"Don't worry!" chirped the little kid happily as Yume laughed. Ainosuke had imitated his gesture most adorably.

"We'll go through EVERYTHING really quick, ne? Then, Sumire-bachan won't scold you for it!"

Yume chuckled as he patted Ainosuke's head fondly.

"Alright, silly. We'll do it your way then—" he said before Ainosuke dragged him hurriedly towards the aviary section of the Asahiyama Zoo...

_xxx  
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They ended up spending almost three hours at the zoo before deciding to head back to Sorachi. Yume glanced towards his younger brother, who was still in high spirits after seeing the animals. Ainosuke had been grinning so widely, as if there was nothing that could dampen his spirit right now. Yume's smile faltered slightly at how cheerful Ainosuke had been. Somehow... he envied his little brother. To be able to still smile so happily...

The little boy suddenly looked up towards his brother before noticing his expression. The kid pouted.

"_Ne... niichan. _Why are you not happy? You don't like going to the zoo?"

Yume sighed as he smiled a bit.

"Not at all. I'm just tired. Ainosuke had fun, didn't you? You looked very surprised when you saw those wolves... or that polar bear. Oh wait... you've been jumping up and down while seeing the lions, tigers, penguins... seals, monkeys—" he started listing even more animals as he counted with his fingers before Ainosuke slapped him, slightly embarrassed at how his older brother had been teasing him. Yume grinned as Ainosuke's face turned red.

"_Niichan_ not nice! It's not always I get to see them so close—and the bear was SO BIG! And the wolves and lions were so cool!" Ainosuke started talking as he waved his arms around. Yume laughed as he pulled his brother to sit on his lap, while they waited for their bus.

"I'm sorry! But Ainosuke was so cute when you saw those animals, ne? Then... after this, would you draw something for me?"

Ainosuke started grinning again as he nodded his head.

"I will draw a nice big bear for you... with baby bears and his friends. I'll draw something _really_ nice! _Niichan_ really like my drawings, right?"

Yume nodded cheerfully.

"Of course I do, I—Ainosuke, what's wrong?"

The little kid pouted as he leaned against his brother.

"Too bad they don't have dolphins... I really wanted to see them."

Yume chuckled at his brother.

"It's too bad, isn't it? Then again, Asahiyama wasn't that big... it can't possibly have so many animals after all, so you might not be able to see some. But it was amazing, some of the new changes they made to the zoo. I'd say it's an improvement... after listening to what it used to be, before—"

Ainosuke turned towards him.

"The animals really looked so happy, weren't they?"

"Unn... but you know, Ainosuke. Perhaps... when you're a bit older, _maybe _we'll move back to Tokyo and live together. Then perhaps after that, we'll visit the zoos over there and see if they have dolphins or not."

Ainosuke's eyes brightened as Yumehito couldn't help but laugh. His brother was so easy to please...

"Really?"

Honestly, the kid was too adorable.

"Really."

_xxx  
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Yumehito chuckled to himself before turning his chair around to glance towards the windows.

In the end they never managed to do what they've planned for. Not like they haven't gone visiting any zoos around Tokyo ever since they've returned to live here again, but somehow... they always ended up not being able to see any due to some unavoidable circumstances. But well, at least this time he'd have a chance to show him one up close.

Hopefully, Ainosuke would like this present.

After all... dogs and doves aren't the only animals that could be trained by humans to perform any certain tasks. The same thing could be said about birds like parrots, seals, orcas... and of course...

Dolphins.

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az: I had them living in Sorachi after the deaths of their parents. And considering there was no other mentions about where they had lived after that or who their other relatives were, I had some free rein. That... and I liked Asahiyama. Even if the only thing I've seen of the zoo was from Youtube and the clip I've seen during the promotion of Sony's newest 3D LCD TVs last month.


	2. Chapter 2

az: I'd probably be waving a flag to beg for reviews and STILL I would only get it from the usual people and not the rest of those curious IPs I've been seeing in the stats. Ah well. And this came out because Yume had been devious again.

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Gift - Offshot

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

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_How could that money have disappeared? For sure he had guarded the money so well... and despite how intelligent dolphins are, they couldn't have taken it. And those divers had seen no one touching the pouch after the dolphin dropped it. So how?  
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"Ahh... even more work to figure out what happened to that money—" said Kato as he glanced towards Ainosuke. The man patted his shoulders to reassure him even though it did nothing to calm him."Don't worry too much, eh... Ainosuke? This was just normal procedure... the money _did_ disappear under your nose after all. And Detective Fukuchi won't be too harsh on you... I believe."

The man sighed. "If only I could tell this to your teacher as well..."

"But Kato-san! I really didn't know anything! I don't know how it could possibly happen—"

"Ainosuke, there was that part about you shaking off our tail and going off alone—you have to understand this. If it wasn't for that new officer reminding Fukuchi-san about the animal related clues, we couldn't have possibly be able to pick up your trail again!"

Ainosuke threw his arm around as both of them entered the interrogation room.

"But Kato-san! That time, if I hadn't done that the kidnapper said—eh? What new officer?"

Kato shrugged.

"You know that officer that found Mai-chan? Well, it happened that he had some idea—well, I have some work to do, you wait here for Fukuchi-san, okay?"

Ainosuke nodded his head as the door closed on him. He sighed as he took his seat on one of the chairs in the room. He frowned.

The new officer... Kato must have been referring to his brother. But then, why? That woman on the phone, she must have been his brother's accomplice! If so... why did he helped out by hinting about the clues to his whereabouts when moments earlier, his partner had told him to ditch his tail? He really couldn't understand it at all!

Someone had opened the door and entered as Ainosuke didn't bothered to look up. He jumped in surprise as a juice carton was placed before him. He looked up in surprise as his eyes met that of his older brother.

"It's been dangerous... eh? The money disappeared suddenly, you must be alarmed. And oh, you can relax for a bit right now... Fukuchi-san had to attend to some pressing matters at the moment."

"Cut the act! What's your aim? I heard what happened from Kato-san—"

Yumehito sighed as he patted Ainosuke's head so gently. The gesture had been so intimate Ainosuke almost forgot that he was confronting Yumehito the crime planner and not Yumehito his brother. He tried to push him away as his brother grabbed the other chair to sit beside him.

"I heard there was a dolphin earlier! So how was it? Is it the first time you've seen one up-close? Did you touched it?"

His brother had been speaking so casually and his smiles had been so genuine that Ainosuke was left speechless. He was left confused about the person in front of him now as he thought about his situation. Why this sudden... change of topics?

Ainosuke's mind immediately wandered back towards that moment when the dolphin had appeared. He had to admit, that was his first time seeing a dolphin so close... and he hadn't imagined to get that chance like this. Despite how he used to want to see one as a child, he hardly—wait! As a child, he used to want so much to see...

Ainosuke turned to stare in disbelief towards his brother's smiling face. _Could it be that all of this had been...!  
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Yumehito grinned as he noticed how Ainosuke's cheeks had started to colour. He was amused at how such an honest reaction had caused the younger boy discomfort. So perhaps Ainosuke _did_ liked his _gift_.

He chanced for another gesture of intimacy as Yumehito leaned closer to kiss Ainosuke on the cheek. He rose as he walked towards the door.

"Sorry I had to leave you now. I have other work to do as well. Take care of yourself. Fukuchi-san may looked very strict to you but he's a good officer. You don't have to worry much... I think. See you later!" said the man in a slight sing-along tone as he walked out of the room.

He didn't even manage to see the glare Ainosuke had given him as the young boy wondered about the true intention of his brother towards him...


End file.
